


Beneath the Apple Tree

by darkestbliss



Category: Muse
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Autism, Fluff, Friendship, Introspection, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Physical Disability
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-25
Updated: 2014-03-25
Packaged: 2018-01-16 23:09:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1365169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkestbliss/pseuds/darkestbliss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm trapped in this body and there's no way out"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beneath the Apple Tree

The clink of crutches echoed down the hallway as Dominic Howard hobbled close to the wall for support, slowly making his way to the counselling office. The fans were on full blast but having little effect, the high school filled to the brink with a rare summer heat that sat stationary in the air and attacked anyone who entered the school with sweltering force. Dominic paused to wipe his brow, scanning the commons and the folded up tables before continuing on his trek. Perspiration gathered in the middle of his back and in his underarms where the crutches seemed to trap every bit of heat that was in the air. He knew how badly he was sweating and how disgusting he probably looked, but for once he didn’t care. He already felt hideous enough with his shaved head, healing scars from multiple surgeries, and skinny legs from no exercise. What more would a few sweat stains do?

 

When he finally reached the office, his arms ached and his legs began to tremble with strain. He collapsed in the chair across from the counselor, breathing heavily to try and regain strength in his lungs.

 

“Hello, Dominic. Is your mom not with you today?” his school counselor, Mrs. Farington, asked.

 

“She has a meeting, my friend dropped me off,” Dominic replied flatly, fanning himself to try and cool his body temperature down. It was really no use, and Dominic crinkled his nose in disgust as he realized Mrs. Farington didn’t have a fan in her office. He scratched at his head and frowned as he felt a rough patch of hair that was growing back unevenly from the rest. The coming school year was going to result in a lot of beanies until his hair grew back to the length he liked, covering up the ugly surgery scars and evening out the patchy sections.

 

“Ah that’s too bad,” Mrs. Farington said as she straightened out a few papers. “This shouldn’t take too long though, I’ll try to make it as easy as possible.”

 

Dominic mumbled a reply beneath his breath, paying little attention as to what the school counselor was saying. He just wanted to get this over with so he could be back home, have a cold drink, and relax so as to forget how physically handicapped he was. He already knew what this meeting was going to result in, so did he really need to even be there? They’d already agreed he was to drop his position as Associated Student Body Activities Coordinator - the mental injuries he’d sustained could never allow that sort of stress and commitment - as well as every Advanced Placement course he’d forecasted for. Just like that, Dominic was out of the running for Stanford. While luckily his language and social skills stayed in tact, his ability to solve simple arithmetic problems and use and sort of educational analysis had completely diminished.

 

He sighed, once again scratching at his head and trying to pay at least a little bit of attention to what Mrs. Farington was saying.

 

“Now, the only art classes we have open are Advanced Painting and Ceramics, do both of those sound interesting to you?”

 

“Yeah, sure,” Dominic said with a shrug, indifferent. He’d already taken a few painting classes and had completed above average work, so that could possibly be fun. The thought of ceramics terrified him, especially with the fact that he was still relearning how to work his body, physically.

 

“Is Introduction to Poetry something you’re interested in? You need one more English credit to graduate and you’re dropping Advanced so-”

 

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine,” Dominic said. He snorted a tiny bit at the thought of writing poetry. Maybe he’d end up writing love songs for a living... He’d drop out of college to be a teenage heartthrob. Classic. “Is there anything at least a little bit challenging that I could take?” he asked.

 

“Dominic,” said Mrs. Farington gently. “As of right now, you can barely write your name. We don’t want to push it. I know how frustrating this must be for you.”

 

Frustrating?! Dominic thought with a slight roll of his eyes. Try life-ruining.

 

“We have your morning schedule figured out, is there anything you’d like to take in particular in the afternoon? I know we have a few cooking classes available.”

 

“No way,” Dominic said, scrunching up his nose just at the mere thought of it. “Not my thing.”

 

“All right then, I think your only choices then will be Teacher’s Assistants. The Skills Center is actually looking for someone to be there from lunch to the end of the day, if you’re interested. They’re low on staff this year and could really use some extra help.”

 

Dominic’s ears perked up a bit. He tried to remember if any of the Skills Center students had ever been in his classes before, but his mind came up empty. Sure, he knew a few of their names from various incidents and occasions, plus it was a bit hard not to take notice of the group, especially when most of them wore clothes one would find in the children’s sections of shops and when one - Charles, was his name - insisted on wearing a Spiderman costume to school everyday. Dominic loved the kid, and oftentimes gave him a high five as he sped around the hallways in his motor controlled wheelchair.

 

In short, the thought of working with those kids every day put a smile on Dominic’s face, his first smile of this entire meeting.

 

“It seems you like the sound of that,” Mrs. Farington said with a slight grin edging at her lips.

 

“I do,” Dominic replied with a quiet nod. “I really do.”

 

She responded with a huge smile. “I’m sure you’re going to be great there, Dominic.” She began clicking about on her computer keyboard, no doubt making adjustments to Dominic’s school schedule. “All of the kids are so amazing, granted some are a bit special-”

 

“They can’t be any different from you and me,” Dominic interrupted, keeping his tone friendly but a bit defensive. “I mean,” he said, coughing awkwardly. “They’re in school because they want to learn. They have friends, they have interests, they have goals. Just like us.”

 

Mrs. Farington shook her head, another smile appearing. “You’re so right. Thank God there are people like you in this school, I think otherwise we’d all go crazy. You’re going to be an absolute blessing to those kids. I think they could all really use someone their age to connect to, you know?”

 

Dominic nodded. “I’m looking forward to it already,” he said, moving to pick up his crutches from where he’d carelessly discarded them before. As much as he would’ve loved for Mrs. Farington drone on and on about the students at his high school, he really needed to get away from the heat. He was beginning to feel dehydrated even, which was especially bad considering the physical condition he was in and the length of the school hallway in which he had to tackle before reaching the main doors to wait for his ride home. He gave a short wave to the counselor and quickly (well, as quickly as his wobbly crutches could take him) left the overheated office, shooting his friend a quick text message on the way.

 

Ten grueling minutes of hobbling and cursing later, Dominic was standing patiently outside the school, taking shelter beneath the tiny strip of shade provided near the front doors. Sweat ran in tiny streams across and down his forehead, gathering in the crook of his chin and above his upper lip. A lone wispy patch of clouds traveled across the sky, and for a few seconds, Dominic was granted a moment of relief as the sun’s rays were shadowed by the tiny puff in the sky.

 

“God fucking bless America,” he mumbled grumpily beneath his breath as his friend’s truck pulled up to the front of the school, right on time as the cloud puff moved away and the full force of heat blasted him once again. “Eric!” he yelled as he slowly made his way to his friend’s truck. “Make sure the AC is blasting!”

 

Eric most likely couldn’t hear him, especially seeing as Dominic could distinctly hear a Metallica riff blaring from the truck’s sound system. He just shook his head and continued to the truck, getting hit with a rush of cold air as he opened up the door and lifted himself in.

 

“Thank fuck,” he gasped, tossing his crutches through the window into the bed of the truck and taking a moment to catch his breath. He had never been more grateful that his friend had insisted to replace the air conditioning early that summer. A moment later he reached forward to turn the volume knob down, turning to his best friend since first grade. “You’re going to be deaf by 25.”

 

“Fuck you, this is the best riff of the whole song,” Eric said with a pout, but nevertheless putting the truck into gear and pulling forward. “How’d it go?”

 

“Eh,” Dominic replied, reaching under the seat to retrieve and open an old bag of pretzels. He stuffed a few into his mouth, savoring the salty snack. “As well as it could’ve gone, I guess. Dropped everything, taking art and some poetry shit.”

 

“That’s it? Just painting and some Edgar Allan Poe shit?”

 

“Yeah, then I’m going to help out in the Skills Center after lunch all year, so that’ll be rewarding at least.”

 

Eric snorted. “Isn’t that where the ex-druggies usually end up? Helping with the special needs kids?”

 

“Well excuse me, but college level Calculus is kind of out of the question at this point,” Dominic said with a snarl. “It was either Skills Center or cooking classes.”

 

“Aw, little housewife Dommie,” Eric cooed.

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Someone’s pissy.”  
  
“Eric, I swear to God. I’m fucking sweaty as fuck, my legs hurt like hell, and I am exhausted, just take me home.”

 

Eric simply shook his head with a smug grin, turning left into Dominic’s neighborhood and driving down a few blocks before turning into the cul-de-sac where the Howard house was. He cut the engine in the driveway, seeing as it was going to take a few minutes for Dominic to situate himself and hobble out of the truck.

 

“Have a nice day,” Eric called out with a laugh. Dominic simply saluted him with the length of his crutch and his middle finger.

 

Once inside, Dominic’s first stop was the kitchen for a tall glass of ice cold lemonade and one of the blondie bars his mom had made the night before. The mix of sweet and sour was exactly what he needed after a day like the one he’d had.

 

He hobbled over to the living room and gingerly placed his sore legs on the length of the couch, resting his back against the armrest. Sleep seemed like a good thing, or at least he thought it did until the family dog, a rambunctious labradoodle puppy named Lucy came bounding down the stairs with her tail wagging and her body nearly toppling over as she hit the hardwood at the bottom and scrambled her way toward Dominic.

 

“Hey girl,” he chuckled when her wet nose came into contact with his leg. “I missed you too, want to nap with me?” He moved his legs to the side, leaving just enough room for her to fit on the couch. She had other ideas though, giving a sharp bark and leaping to fetch one of her chew toys from where it had escaped under the coffee table. Dominic watched her bounce around with admiration on his face.

 

The Howards had adopted Lucy upon Dominic’s return home for recovery. With long days spent in bed with minimal physical capabilities, she made the perfect companion for him. While all his friends spent the majority of summer doing sports, going to leadership conferences, and spending late nights downtown and by the shores of the sound, Dominic spent his summer regaining his strength and training the new puppy tricks. If he was honest with himself, it was one of his favorite things to do, and worked better than any physical or mental therapy he’d received from professionals.

 

With paws that were too big for her body and a wildly thumping tail, Lucy flopped her way toward Dominic, chew toy between her jaws. With a quick yank, Dominic grabbed the toy, gave it a quick squeak, and tossed it down the hall. He laughed as he heard the scratch of her nails on the wooden floor and the distinct thump as she fell over, too excited for her own good.

 

Dominic smiled, content with the one throw. Lucy sensed how tired he must’ve been, and immediately dropped the toy and hopped up onto the couch next to Dominic, tucking herself into the small, warm spot by his ribcage. With a huff, she rested her muzzle on top of his thigh, and Dominic let out a giggle as her ticklish whiskers came into contact with his sensitive skin. She was asleep within minutes.

 

“Someone must’ve had a long day,” the blonde said sarcastically, letting his fingers trail down to scratch the top of her head. “So exhausting, laying around all day, eating food, sleeping, such a hard life.” A soft grunt came from the dog’s throat, and Dominic smiled, letting his eyes shut and his body relax into the couch, the rapidly spinning fan on the ceiling keeping both him and the dog cool and comfortable in the scorching summer heat. They were so comfortable that Dominic found himself snoozing heavily just twenty minutes later, oblivious to the loud ruckus his mother was making as she made her way through the house after work, pausing only to smile at her sleeping son, a pleasant and at peace expression spread wide across his face.

 

~

 

“I hear you, calm down!” Dominic screamed out his bedroom window early in the morning a few weeks later. Hastily grabbing his almost empty school bag and a stress ball, he slowly but surely hobbled his way to the top of the staircase, stopping only halfway down to defeatedly bring his crutches under his arms. His legs were growing stronger, but could only handle short distances at a time. Dominic was convinced he wouldn’t need the crutches by October, and with autumn rapidly approaching, he was fighting to be off the walking aids in time to reach his personal goal.

 

With a grab of his lunch and a kiss pressed to his little sister’s forehead, Dominic counted his papers, making sure everything was in order, pocketed his house key, and made his way outside to where Eric was frantically honking his truck’s horn.

 

“I can only move so fast with these things,” Dominic grunted as soon as he was seated. “You need to learn patience.”

 

“And you need to learn that we have to get to school early so that I can get a good parking spot, not one of those shit tiny ones in the way back. Like where crazy Shayna likes to park and hit every car in sight.”

 

“Oh God forbid someone dents your truck,” Dominic said sarcastically, looking pointedly at the ripping interior, cracked windshield, and broken gear shift that you had to pull to the left and jiggle a bit before you could get the truck into gear.

 

“Fuck you,” Eric said, a smile edging at his lips.

 

Dominic rolled his eyes, fiddling with the strap on his school bag and biting his lip nervously. He turned to the side so Eric wouldn’t see, and peered out the dusty window at the other cars making their way into the high school parking lot. There was no hiding it from himself anymore; Dominic was fucking terrified of school.

 

Never had he been the stupid kid, never had he been the kid taking bullshit classes that guaranteed almost everyone an A, never had he been the kid that struggled to put his thoughts down on paper. But now, he was that kid. He knew he would see people from Student Council, people from the theater department, people from the Advanced Placement classes he took last year, and he knew that none of them would even attempt to talk to him.

 

He tried to remember the people who’d talked to him over the summer. Topping the list was Eric of course, his relatives, and past teachers. Then, his ex-girlfriend, Mandy, and an old friend from his early days doing drama, Patrick. That was where the list ended. Sure, he’d gotten countless messages on Facebook and Twitter, wishing him a safe and fast recovery, and sure, his hospital room had been so overwhelmed with bouquets and balloons at one point he was sure they’d bought out the entire hospital gift shop, but did those people really care? The lack of contact with them since being discharged from the hospital proved that no, they didn’t really care.

 

He took a shaky breath, eyeing Eric carefully as he pulled his truck into a parking spot right up front. Eric cut the gas, turned toward Dominic, and gave him a reassuring smile.

 

“Don’t sweat it, Dominic. It’s all going to be okay.”

 

Dominic smiled, nodding his head once.

 

“And hey,” Eric added with a sly grin. “Even if no one talks to you or people say stupid shit, just remember how much half the school still wants to bang you.”

 

“I’ll remember that, thanks Eric,” he said with a shake of his head, grabbing his school bag and crutches. “See you at lunch!”

 

“Have fun in poetry.” Eric waved, gathering his own things for the first day. “Quoth the Raven,” he added, laughing at his own joke.

 

“Fuck you!” Dominic called back, turning his back and ignoring his best friend as he cackled madly. “I hope you have to sit by crazy Shayna in English.”

 

That shut Eric up.

  
  



End file.
